The Darkness of the Night
by MetalAngemon
Summary: (story completed) A horrific suspence. Kari is brutally killed in her dreams, and can't shake it. -- I have finished it due to a lot of positive responce. Tahnks everyone!
1. Piedmon

Clouds. Kari could see clouds floating above her. Kari noticed that the blue of the sky was actually black. But the clouds floating there were gray. No colour. Kari sat up, she had been lying on the ground. She stood. She felt something strange, she was shorter than she should be. Kari looked down, the gloves she normally wore were gone, and she was wearing the yellow shirt she hadn't worn in years. Around her neck she felt the pink scarf she wore when she went to the Digiworld the first time. She had a whistle around her neck, not a camera. Somehow, she was four years younger.

Kari's heart began to beat faster, she was scared. When she looked up again she was not outside, but in the bowels of some stone fortress. She began walking around, looking for a way out, a familiar face, something. Kari could hear her footsteps echoing around the huge quiet place, then she heard something else. Footfalls, heavy ones. Someone else was there! Kari broke into a run.

She ran far, fast, and furious. Her legs hurt, her lungs felt like fire, and she was dead tired. She stopped to get her breath, and again heard the footsteps. Louder, closer. Now there was another sound. Laughing, evil laughing. Kari's heart jumped again, and her adrenaline gave her the strength to run some more.

Why was she here? Where was she? Who is that? Kari's head kept pounding out the questions, while her feet kept pounding the ground.

"Tai! TK! Gatomon!" Kari screamed. If any one of the three responded she'd be happy. She felt safe around those three souls. Her brother, her lover, and her best friend. But no sound came back, at least no comforting one.

Kari kept running. She was scared to death. Every fiber of her being told her that if she let that laugh and those footsteps catch her, she'd die.

The hallway stopped, and opened in to an entry chamber, just inside an entrance. She saw the large door at the top of a few steps.

She took the steps three at a time. Kari grabbed the handle, and pulled. The door creaked open loudly. She chanced a look behind her. She couldn't see any details, just a silhouette of whatever it was. At least three meters tall, with wide shoulders. That was more than she wanted to know. She slammed the door shut, turned, and ran some more.

Her little legs did not carry her as fast as she'd like. But it didn't matter. She didn't have far to go. She found herself on a large balcony. Looking over the edge, she saw she was almost two hundred meters above the ground. It dawned on her, this was Piedmon's castle on Spiral Mountain. She almost died here once before. Thinking for a second history might repeat itself, she looked for the basket of rope, it was not there.

Kari's mind raced. Looking for any way of escape. Then she smelled something she did not expect. Blood.

She turned in the direction she thought the smell came from. Kari's hand went to her mouth, she gasped, and went white.

On a small table, sat three objects. A bloody set of goggles, one glass shattered. The other missing. A big green hat, with a dried line of blood around the left side. And finally a pair of cat-claw gloves. The pair of gloves with blood and tufts of white fur clinging to it.

"Gatomon......" Kari reached out for the gloves, and the door exploded. She whipped around, and saw Piedmon. He just shattered the door and was staring at her. She stopped and stood her ground.

"What have you done with my friends?" Kari was angry now, like a cornered animal.

"Child, can't you tell? I thought these trophies I collected would clue you in. Here, have another." Piedmon tossed something at her. Slowly and arcing, easy for her to catch. She did, and immediately felt the familiar sticky feeling of blood. She opened her fingers to see a twisted, broken and bloody harmonica.

"Why?" Now Kari was starting to cry. This was hopeless. How could she get out of this?

"You Digidestined children interfere with our plans. And as much as I'd love to continue, I must finish my work."

"What work?"

"Come now. Think. Eight digimon and seven humans destroyed. Those numbers are a bit lopsided. But I can fix that easy enough." Piedmon smiled and pulled out his swords. A pair in each hand. Kari was shocked. This was the end. He took a swing at her, but she ducked it and ran to the edge of the balcony. He threw two at her, one missed and the other clipped her arm. Her other hand went to the wound, and came away with the now too familiar red liquid.

She looked up at Piedmon just in time to see the last to swords coming at her. One hit her knee, tripping her, the other hit its mark.

Kari could feel the cold metal pass through her heart. She looked down to see the sword handle and only a few centimeters of the meter long sword in her chest. Reaching behind her, she could feel the rest protruding from her. Kari couldn't breathe. Her lungs refused to respond to inhale or exhale commands. She felt numb, light-headed. Kari sputtered for a second, and fell over. Her last sight was that of a small trail of her own blood winding away from her on the uneven stones. She closed her eyes and died.

Kari sat up in her bed. She was breathing hard, and she could hear her own heart. Her nightgown and bed sheets were almost soaked with her own perspiration. Kari noticed her hand were gripping the wooden sides of her bed, while her knuckles where white. It took some effort to release her fingers; they must have been gripping a long time. Her finger tips felt sore. She looked at them to see small chunks of wood under a few nails. She had been gripping hard enough to rip the tight pine fibers.

Kari looked down to the foot of her bed. A small curled white cat was sleeping. Two pairs of gloves where hanging on the side, her's and Gatomon's. Kari leaned over the side of the bed. She looked down to the bottom half of the bunk bed she shared with her brother. He was right where he should be. A small puddle of drool on his pillow, and breathing softly. She smiled and reached for the D-Terminal within easy reach. She sent and email marked as emergency. That would make the receiving terminal beep until it was answered.

It only took a minute for the reply to come back.

> _I'm fine Kari, so is Patamon. What's wrong?_

Kari responed saying she'd see him in the morning.

She suddenly felt very emotional. Kari reached down and picked up Gatomon.

"Kari? What's going on?" The little cat was confused and tired. Kari said nothing, just took Gatomon in her arms and starting crying. Releasing the pent up emotional stream. Gatomon didn't talk. She knew Kari just needed to be close to her, she could find out what was wrong later. Kari was her best friend, and she'd do anything for her. Even give up her cat naps just to be hugged.

Kari was thinking. What was that nightmare for? She usually only had them as warnings about coming danger. But that was the most intense, frightening nightmare she had. It was also the only one where she was brutally killed.

Kari continued to squeeze Gatomon. Gatomon just purred to comfort her friend.


	2. Bridge

Hikari Kamiya left her bedroom in the morning. What had the strange dream meant? Why did she get such a vivid description of her own death? How was she going to concentrate on school?

Kari walked around the apartment in daze. She was back to her usual pink glove wearing, camera carrying self. But every little noise had her jump with fear. Tai was concerned.

"Kari are you alight?"

"I'm fine Tai. I just had a bad dream."

"You want to talk about it?"

"I'd rather not." Kari went through the same conversation with two of her teachers, three of her friends, and TK. All were concerned about how jumpy she was. Kari breezed through the whole day fast, because her mind wasn't concentrating on the time, but rather analyzing the images she saw last night. She ate little dinner, watched no TV, and went to bed early. She was looking forward to a good night's sleep. And tomorrow was Saturday, so she could spend it relaxing with TK, Yolei and the rest of her friends. She laid her head on the pillow after kissing Gatomon goodnight, wishing for that peaceful sleep.

Kari opened her eyes and looked around. She was standing on a sidewalk, in the middle of a forest; how strange. She walked along the path a little ways. It was hard to see beyond the curves because the foliage of the trees was so thick. When she rounded another bend, she saw a building, a small tourist information stand. She saw a 'you are here' sign by it, and she saw that this was simply part of a large National Park. The name on the board said 'Tianvey Suspension Bridge'. Kari caught a look of herself in the reflection of the glass, and she screamed a bit. She was once again in the yellow shirt, with the whistle, and shorter. She was younger again, just like last time.

There was something very different about this dream. First she noted, that she was aware that she was dreaming. Second was the smell; she remembered that your nose and dreaming are controlled by different parts of the brain, so she shouldn't be smelling the pine trees around her. She also shouldn't have been able to read for the same reason. Whatever was happening to her, was effecting all of her, not just one portion of her brain like a normal dream would.

"Kari, come on! Everyone's waiting for us!" Kari turned and looked to the other side of the tourist booth, where TK was waiting for her. But this was the small TK with the green hat she'd known four years ago. "Come on!" He ran of out of her sight. Kari ran to catch up to him, and stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the suspension bridge. TK was already a few meters out onto the seventy meter bridge. Kari glanced down into the gorge. It was a staggering hundred and fifty meter drop. There was a small river running, but the water was no more than ten centimeters deep, plenty of chance to see the staggering sharp rocks that formed the valley floor. TK was waving and her to join him out on the bridge, that was held in the air by just a few lines of cable. She looked beyond him and saw her brother, and Sora on the other side urging her to come across. Kari hesitantly set her foot on the first of the boards of the bridge, and found it solid. She then brought he other foot beside the first, gripping the handle wires tightly.

"You scared Kari?" TK asked. She looked up at him and nodded. "It alright, look!" TK jumped as hard as he could on the boards to show her they were indeed strong. Kari was reassured and trusted TK, and she began to follow him out on the bridge. She was moving slowly and surely. When she was halfway across, she stopped to look around at the view. She was able to look down the gorge and see the clouds in the distance. It was very pretty here, the air was clean, and it was quiet. Kari took one more step toward the other side, and the plank gave way.

Kari fell forward and gripped the planks in front of her, but he small size was easily able to slip through the hold made by the missing board. TK grabbed her hands as everything below her shoulders dangled out into space. He wasn't able to hold on very securely. Tai and Sora were running out along the bridge to rescue her, but their running on the bridge, and TK's young hands cumulated into her falling.

Kari felt her hands part of TK's, and her stomach turn as she began to fall. She screamed as much as her lungs could. She seemed to remember back when they were falling under Machinedramon's city.

"Help me Tai!" Kari's scream echoed around the canyon. She drew in breath and started moving her arms. The change in air around her caused her body to rotate to she was facing the ground. She saw the sharp rocks coming toward her at lightning speed, but the whole situation moved so slowly. Just when she thought she would never hit the ground, she saw the rock's uppermost point begin to rip through her shirt and flesh.

Kari snapped up in bed, her breathing and heart easily audible to anyone in the building. She was scared almost to death. Tai, and Gatomon were standing over her looking at her with wide eyes.

"Kari, are you OK?" Tai asked.

Kari didn't know. What was she dreaming about dying? Why were the dreams so real? She needed to know, but all she knew was that her sheets were wet from her sweat, her knuckles were white, and her face was red. But she also knew that in the real world, her brother, and Gatomon were right there with her.


	3. Gunman

Kari had to find out what was happening to her. She had a nightmare about her dying twice in a row. She couldn't tell Tai, he'd think she went nuts. She wanted to tell TK, but something was holding her back. Kari had outlined to Gatomon what was happening, but didn't go into any detail about it. Kari left out the fact that she was killed every time, and woke up just as she died. She also left out the fact that she was younger in her dreams.

Kari sat on a chair on her apartment balcony. Tai was out on date, and her parents were visiting some friends and wouldn't be home until late. Kari sat there, looking at the crimson fire of the setting sun, gently rubbing the head of the digimon cat in her lap. Gatomon was purring quietly.

:I want to help her. But she won't let me. How can I save her from bad dreams?: Gatomon thought to herself. Kari looked past the sea of buildings that made up Tokyo, and watched as the sun finally disappeared behind the mountains in the distance. A tear left Kari's eye, rolled down her cheek and hit Gatomon's head. She looked up at her human friend.

"Kari? Are you alright?"

"It's almost night, and that means I have to sleep." Kari looked petrified. Gatomon thought back to earlier in the day, when TK was trying to talk to her about it. He looked hurt that she wouldn't talk to him. He eventually stopped asking. Gatomon and Kari both knew that TK wasn't being so persistent to be nosy or annoying, but out of true caring for his friend.

Kari had considered getting pills to keep her awake, but quickly dismissed that idea. No matter what you're dreaming about, you can't live without sleep, and Kari knew it. She changed into her pajamas and crawled slowly into bed. It was three hours later than she normally went to sleep. Despite her fear, she did drift off.

Kari's heart sank when she saw herself in the reflection of a store window. Yellow shirt, pink tie, whistle.

"Kari, come on! It's getting late!" Kari heard Sora behind her. She and Tai had taken Kari and TK out to the movies, and were now on their way home. Tai and Sora walked several paces ahead of the younger pair, talking as your lovers do. Kari and TK were laughing and joking the time away. Kari was feeling better now, maybe she was going to be fine.

"Let's see some money, or the girl gets hurt!" Kari looked up at Sora and Tai. Some man had his arm around Sora with his had over her mouth, holding a gun to her head. Tai was stuck in place with fear. TK and Kari just looked at the whole scene, scared to do anything. Tai's senses came back to him, as much as he had anyway.

"TK, Kari, run! Get help!" Tai's command was out. He was holding his hands up, passive.

"Come on Kari, we've got to get a policeman!" TK grabbed Kari's arm and started pulling her away. The gunman turned on the two fast footed witnesses. He fired several rounds into the air. Kari knew before she was hit that she would be.

She felt the bullet enter her back, she heard a left front rib shatter, and the bullet lodge itself in her bone. She flew forward with the impact, and landed on her stomach. She couldn't feel her pulse anymore, and knew she was going to die. She closed her eyes and accepted it. Thinking that even though the dreams hurt, and felt real, she could still wake up safe and sound.

Kari opened her eyes slowly, blinking at the bright light above her.

"She's awake." It was Tai's voice. She could slowly move her head and saw she was in a hospital.

"W-What happened?" She asked, her voice low and horse.

"Your heart stopped Kari. Gatomon called the ambulance, and me. You've been in a coma for three days."

Her heart stopped? Now there was something to be afraid of. Before she would wake up, physically safe. But now even that wasn't a constant.


	4. Aaron

Kari was back at school

Kari was back at school. Her mild heart attack had her in bed for the rest of the week, and weekend. She had already gone through the first half of her day, and decided to go to the park near the school for lunch. She would have gone with TK, but he was off sick. She could hear the trees above her rustling in the wind. The weather threatened to get stormy later. The clouds were gathering thick and grey on the light blue sky.

She rounded the corner, and entered the park. There were a few kids around, a couple on the swings, most others at the various picnic tables around. Kari saw a boy sitting at one, alone. She recognized him as Aaron, a boy she'd gone to school with since she was little, but only knew him by sight. She hadn't seen him in several weeks, or heard his name mentioned. She always had a mild crush on him; he had a look that just drew her towards him. Not that she'd ever give up TK, Aaron didn't have anything in common with Kari.

"Hi Aaron!" Kari's voice pulled his head out of the book he was reading. When he traced the source of the voice, he put the book on the table cover down so she couldn't see the title.

"What are you doing out here? And all alone? Is TK sick?" Aaron's question stopped her brain for a second. Was it a lucky guess or did he know something? "Please, join me. I could use the company." Kari sat down hesitantly.

"Yeah, TK is sick today. He should be back tomorrow."

"Too bad, I always liked that boy."

"He's not dead." Aaron sipped from his pop.

"So, I heard that you almost were."

"Yeah, the doctors aren't sure what is was." She spread her arms in a showoff display. "But they obviously fixed it!"

"Sure did." He paused and looked deep into her eyes. Kari could feel his gaze cutting right through her, as if his could see inside her and everything she was thinking. "I bet you know what caused it."

"Why do you say that?" Again, Kari's heart skipped a beat.

"You're the kind of person that always has an answer. I thought you would." He smirked, like someone who knows a secret and likes to hang the fact over your head.

"I have an idea, but I don't know about it." Kari was pondering her current state. Every time she'd gone to sleep for a week, she'd had a horrible nightmare about her dying. And one even caused her heart to stop for real. She didn't want to give any details to this boy here, she wouldn't tell anyone anything except Gatomon, and even that wasn't the whole truth.

"I bet you do. You're just waiting for the moment to step in and solve it, right?" Kari was getting a strange feeling from him. The same feeling that drew her to him was now inverted, making her feel sick and wanting to leave. "Well, my dear, I have to make an appointment. If you'll excuse me." He stood, packed his things and started to leave. He neglected to get the book he was reading when she came up, as it was under his backpack as he was packing it. Kari grabbed it and ran a few steps after him.

"Aaron! You forgot your..." Kari stopped when she saw the title on the cover. _Mind Control and other Psychic Abilities_.

"Thank-you Kari. I don't know what I'd do with out this." He took the book and started to leave. When he was a few paces away, he turned again. "Oh, and Kari..."

"Yes?"

"Pleasant dreams." He turned and walked away, away from the school rather that towards it. Kari stood stock still in the middle of the field, ignoring the rain as it began to fall.


	5. Mist

Kari stayed out late that night. She had gone home before her brother or parents would be home to change into dry clothes, and left again without Gatomon. The cat was sleeping in a sunbeam, and it was easy to get past her. It was now one in the morning and Kari was sitting on a bench in the same park near the school.

There was a full moon in the sky, but it was partially covered by the clouds. Below the moon, the clouds were thick enough to block all light, but the cloud ebbed to be thinner. Just above it, the moon still couldn't be seen, but the glow cast as eerie feel over the world. Like a lightning bolt had flashed and left some, but not all, of the clouds glowing. The ground was covered with mist three meters thick. No two people standing ten meters apart could see each other, and past fifty meters it's unlikely they would hear the other yelling. The park had two lights, bright orange one shining down at each entrance, creating a cone of light. Like sunbeam from heaven in this dank hellish scene. Kari was sitting in the third corner of the park, formed by its triangular shape. She was flanked on three sides by thick forest, and the other by equally thick mist. The whole park, Kari's whole world was setup to hide anyone and anything in it.

Kari surveyed the landscape before her. The air had a smell of the smoke from a fireplace, and it struck her nostrils cold. Like the smell had traveled several kilometers, and died slowly along the way. Nothing had changed for five hours, other than her jacket getting wet. The lights still burned, the mist still hung, the sky was still dark, and her mind never stopped working.

"Why?" Her mouth formed the word, and her lungs expelled the air, but no sound emerged. She was almost killed several times, and the whole time she thought it was her brain loosing grip on reality, or a feeling from the future warning her of some terrible impending danger. Kari had predicted the future a dozen times successfully, and with very accurate detail. But every time, whither the outcome was good or bad, the feeling she got was gentle and energizing. The images were faded, colorless, and didn't interact with her. She should have known something was wrong when her dreams were interactive, and in a Technicolor rainbow of colours.

Now she knew that someone was attacking her. The question had to be asked again. "Why?" This time, she could hear her own voice, and feel the warmth of the tear rolling down her cheek. If someone was raping her, she could fight them off. If someone was stealing from her, she could find them out or secure her own belongings. If someone was insulting her she could ignore it, or cut them down with her own comments. Any attack, anything she'd known of that would fit the word, she felt she could stop, or get help from her friends stopping. How could she stop an attack on her mind, from someone she didn't know, for some reason she didn't know? And to what end? Kari felt vulnerable.

Kari knew she had some psychic ability; but she never even considered honing her skills. And now she was being attacked by a professional. Kari thought back to every science class she'd ever had, thinking of how the brain worked as an organ. She knew that when you slept, there were more electrolytes in the brain, but less saratonine. The reduction in saratonine made the mind less able to fight off sickness. Then something else came to mind; during a female cycle, the chemicals in the brain were unbalanced, reducing the saratonine even more. Her first nightmarish dream was on the first day of her period, and it was over yesterday.

Kari felt relief. She could only be mentally attacked for four days in a month. Kari stood and walked towards the park exit. Her legs moved slowly, from having sat so long. She wondered how she was able to recall such specific information about a subject she didn't care about, and so late at night. Whatever it was, she could confirm in an encyclopedia tomorrow. The felt light hearted and relived. She could evade the attack for another month, and indefinitely with a simple pill. But that was just a band-aide solution. She vowed to get a more permanent solution later.

Kari rounded the corner of the fence leading out of the park. She near jumped out of her skin when she heard the click of a cigarette lighter. Kari whipped around to see Aaron leaning up against a lamppost just inside the park, the glow of the cigarette came down from his mouth with his hand. Kari gasped when she saw who it was.

"Little late, don't you think?" He said.

"What are you doing here?!?" Kari was panicking. She couldn't escape. She felt hopeless again.

"Just reading." He tossed a stapled bundle of papers at her. She caught it and read the title. _Chemical Composition of the Human Brain_. It looked like a computer printout from an online medical encyclopedia. The paper was snatched away from her. She went white. Aaron had covered the distance without making a sound. "Sorry. I have to take this with me." He kissed his index finger and touched it to Kari's lips. She shuddered at the touch, and was once again left standing alone in the park.


	6. Clues

Kari walked down the street

Kari walked down the street. It was midday, and the bright May sun was beating down on the city. It was the kind of heat that you could smell before you felt it. Kari walked quickly, on a mission. Her brother Tai was right beside her. He knew he was needed, but Kari wouldn't tell him why, instead insisting that she explain it to everyone at once. Her backpack shuffled slightly, as Gatomon made herself more comfortable in the confined space.

Kari rounded the corner and entered the same park she had seen Aaron twice before. TK stood just inside, with Patamon on his head, talking to Yolei sitting on a picnic table. Hawkmon hovered nearby. Kari walked over and sat at the table. TK sat beside her while Tai sat opposite Kari beside Yolei. Hawkmon perched on the fence and waited like everyone else. Gatomon was let out of the pack and sat on the table beside Kari.

"Well Kari? We're here. Why just us?" Tai asked.

"Because I have a special relationship with the three of you. It's different for each of you, but still more than I have with anyone else." Tai was very close to his sister, TK was her lover, and Yolei her closest female friend.

"What do I..." Yolei started.

"Later." Hawkmon just mouthed the word. Surprisingly, Yolei understood despite the fact that he talks with a beak.

"The past few nights I've been having really bad nightmares. They're so vivid and scary. Not anything like a normal dream. In each one I die, and my body feels near death when I wake up. Once I was shot in my dream, and my heart stopped here. I thought I was going crazy but I think there's someone doing it." Kari spelled all the information out she was willing to share.

"Who is it?" TK asked.

"It's not important." She said. "I think I'm safe for the next few weeks. I think the dreams can only come at night, and during a period."

"That does make a difference Kari." TK said. "If someone is sending you psychic thoughts, it helps if your brain is distracted. Sleep is a pretty major thing. What our talking about isn't much, but it might be enough to get the thoughts through. Anything would work, if you had a deep cut and your body was healing it would do the same."

Tai, Kari, and Yolei stared at TK. "Where'd that come from, professor?" Yolei asked.

"I was reading some about it on the 'net a while ago. I wanted to see if there was any truth to being psychic. That's about all the scientific info they had." He said.

"I don't know what to do." Kari said. She was almost sobbing. "There's nothing I can do to stop it." Everyone was quiet letting all the information sink in. Kari sat up and wiped a tear from her eyes. She looked up and saw a figure sitting on the fence at the other end of the park. It took her a second to focus her eyes that far, and she saw Aaron. She noticed he was wearing the same clothes when she saw him at night, and the day before. Tai and Yolei turned around to see what Kari was looking at, then looked back at her.

"What's so interesting?" Tai asked. As the words left Tai's mouth, Aaron jumped off the fence and walked into the woods flanking the park.

"I saw the guy I think is doing this." They turned to look again, and saw no one. "You missed him."

"Good for him, too. I'll kick the crap out of anyone who hurts you Kari." Tai proclaimed.

"Same for me, Kari." TK added.

"I got some good solid kicking shoes." Yolei said. Kari smiled.

"Thank-you." Kari looked from face to face of her friends. Something moved out of the corner of her eye.


	7. Revelation

She turned and looked. The sky was slowly turning from blue to black. As if some dark fluid was leaking into a pool. "What's going on?" Kari demanded.

Tai, TK, and Yolei, and the three digimon all looked skeptical. "What do you mean?" TK asked.

"The sky!" She said. They all looked, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. The blackness speed up, and covered the sky, like night except no stars. It blotted out the sun, and settled on the far horizon. She looked back at her friends but only saw a colourless outline of them that faded to nothing. Kari was alone in the park. She looked out past the edge and saw a fog rolling in. When it should have come into the park it stopped. The rest of the world was shrouded in the mist, leaving the park crystal clear. She felt her hair raise and her skin get goose bumps. She turned slowly.

Aaron was sitting cross legged in the middle of the table. "I thought they'd never leave." He said.

"What do you want?" She said.

"Well, what I want is very simple. But its for another time and place to explain."

"Tell me, and tell me now." Kari was trying to act tough, but she knew she was scared white.

"You're in no place to make demands." Aaron leaned back and gripped something behind him. He pulled a gun forward. It was a magnum, and Kari could sense that it was loaded.

"What are you going to do?" She asked.

"You better run Kari." She didn't move. He pulled the trigger and she froze. A few seconds went by and she realized she hadn't heard the report, or felt shot. She looked up and saw a flag on the end of the barrel that said 'Bang!'. "It won't be the gun that kills you." Kari started to back away.

She turned and ran for the park entrance, and stopped when she heard the sound. She could hear a car engine, revving and slowing erratically, but constantly coming closer.

"Hey, throw it to me!" Kari turned to see another boy, further away holding a baseball glove. She became aware of a ball in her hand. "Throw it!" He yelled again. Kari was confused, but threw it. He ran off to tag someone in a game she couldn't see. The car engine was now very audible. She turned and saw it enter the park swerving. The driver had a bottle in his hand. Kari saw the car flying towards her and incredible speed. She tried running, but her legs didn't obey out of fear. It was so close she could read the plate, and smell the exhaust. Kari felt a blast of water in her face, and opened her eyes seeing TK, Tai, and Yolei with a bottle of water.

"I think it's time we got you home."


	8. Dawn

Kari was escorted home, and placed on the couch. Tai and Yolei went to work making some lunch, while TK called home saying he'd be late. Kari's heart was still beating from her latest near death dream. This one was started while she was awake, and not on her period. 'Scratch that theory,' she thought.

Tai and Yolei came over with sandwiches, and TK joined them. They sat and ate in silence. Each one rolling thoughts around their head about a course of action. Tai, Yolei and TK all started making suggestions. But each plan had massive holes and little chance of success. Kari set her head in her hand out of frustration.

"Oww." She said.

"What now?" Yolei asked. Kari just stared and her hands. Each of her ten fingers was on fire, but she felt no pain. Just as she was about to speak, the flames burst in a huge explosion. Kari screamed, but didn't feel any pain or heat. She looked up, and saw her apartment. It looked like it had been gutted by a massive fire. But it looked like it had happened years ago and was never repaired.

"Tai!" She yelled. No answer came back other than a cold breeze in her face from the window. The world in her apartment and outside looked gray, but she couldn't tell if that was the colour, or if she just couldn't see colour. Kari ran out of her apartment and down the few stairs to the ground. The inside of the building was similarly gutted by fire. She burst out onto the street. Every building up and down was broken and run down. She was surprised that Tokyo could reach such a state. Some buildings were fire gutted, others partially collapsed. Kari walked a few steps and heard glass crunch under her feet.

She bent down and saw a shattered family picture. Her brother, mother and father easily visible. But where her smiling face should have been, there was a void. Nothing, as if she never took the picture. A tear rolled down her cheek thinking of her family, of TK and Yolei, and of all of Tokyo. Kari looked up sensing something above her. It was a bird, a small swallow. She looked closer and saw that it had a whistle around her neck. The same she wore years ago. It chirped at her and flew off. Kari felt she had to follow it and did.

She ran as hard as she could, following the bird through the streets of the abandoned, dead city. When the lost sight of the bird, it would perch and wait for her to catch up. Before she could stop and catch her breath, it was off again. Kari followed it around a corner, and faced the park. She stopped in her tracks. The grass was green, the trees lush, and the air fresh. Kari felt like now she would finally get some answers.

She walked into the park. Although she couldn't see it, she felt the sun on her back. Aaron was sitting at a bench holding a baseball, looking at the ground. He looked so small and vulnerable. She didn't feel the fear she normally did, instead felt confident and energized. She walked over to him. Before speaking she saw teardrops in the brown dirt below him, darkening the ground.

"What's happening Aaron?" She asked. "Where are we?"

"This is halfway between my home and yours. It's about as far as I can go. I can go further, but it hurts and is really tiring." The answer was so cryptic, but she didn't press further. "You wanted to know what I wanted, Kari?" She sat on the ground facing him.

"Yes, I still do."

"You. I want you." She pulled back in disgust slightly. "Not like that Kari. I mean I want to be in your arms, and just be with you." He hesitated, stood and turned away from her. "I remember the first time I saw you. That pink scarf and whistle. You sat near me in school but never saw me. I knew I loved you, but I couldn't tell you. I watched and loved you from afar for a long time. But then I died, and I knew you were beyond me forever."

Kari looked confused. "Died? Why didn't I hear of that?"

"Every piece of information about was hidden in your mind. An easy skill. When you leave her today you'll remember the newspaper articles, and the ceremony at the school. I was killed by a drunk driver who ran off the road into that park. I just turned for a second to throw a friend a ball." Kari understood now.

"Anyway. Heaven and Hell are the same place. Did you know that? It's nothing like anyone knows. I can see why different religions think what they do, but they're all wrong. There is no god, just this environment of thought. It's hell if you don't like it, heaven if you do. One and the same. I thought I could be happy if I could get you to join me. So I started making you have those dreams. I almost had you once. But I decided its not right to take you away from your life, just because I lost mine. But now you know. I love you Kari."

Kari sympathized with him. She could feel every emotion he was feeling. There was no reason to doubt him. She knew he loved her, he would do anything for her. She could also feel the horrible sadness. "Aaron. What can I do?"

"Live your life. Think of me sometime. That's about it. I'll see you when you're supposed be here." Kari saw some more tears fall from his eyes, and moved towards him. "Go home." His words left his mouth and shocked Kari back to reality.

She was sitting back in her apartment; TK, Yolei and Tai still sitting there as if nothing happened.


End file.
